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Marlins Notes: Payroll, Practice Squad, Cabrera, Gillispie

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One of the key storylines of this offseason has been the aggression coming from the nomadic Athletics. They have given out three of the largest contracts in franchise history, signing free agent Luis Severino and giving extensions to Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler.

That has at least partly been motivated by a desire to keep their revenue-sharing status away from risk. As has been reported by The Athletic through the winter, that club needed to get their competitive balance tax number up to 150% of what they receive in revenue-sharing funds. Falling short of that would leave them subject to a potential grievance from the MLB Players Association. Understandably, the MLBPA wants to be assured that the funds are being spend on player salaries.

Since the A’s will reportedly receive about $70MM in revenue-sharing funds this year, they seemingly need to get their CBT number above $105MM, give or take. Thanks in part to those aforementioned deals and others, RosterResource projects them at about $115MM.

Back in December, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Marlins were in the same situation as the A’s. Rosenthal took a look at the situation in a follow-up piece today, noting that the Marlins have not taken the same aggressive approach. RosterResource has the Marlins’ CBT number just below $87MM, more than $18MM shy of the $105MM target. As noted by Rosenthal, a midseason trade of Sandy Alcántara would drop them even further away from that line.

It seems the Marlins are far more willing to live dangerously with the situation. Rosenthal notes that the MLBPA brought revenue-sharing grievances against several clubs, including the Marlins, in 2018 and 2019. The report adds that many of those grievances were dropped but the ones against the Marlins remain active.

For the A’s, they understandably don’t want to be playing chicken with the union right now. The A’s had their revenue-sharing status revoked gradually over the course of the 2016-2021 collective bargaining agreement, with their payouts dropping by 25% annually. They only got 75% of their funds in the first year, 50% in the second, 25% in the third and none at all in the final two years. They are gradually getting their revenue-sharing status back up in the current CBA, reversing that previous plan, adding 25% per year. As they incur the costs of moving to West Sacramento and then Las Vegas, building a new stadium in the latter city, they surely don’t want to lose their payments again.

The Marlins are seemingly more cavalier. As noted by Rosenthal, the CBA runs through 2026 and these matters are collectively bargained. If the MLBPA wants to fight to strip the Marlins of their revenue-sharing payments, they will have to wait almost two years and will also have to weigh that against other CBA priorities. Rosenthal also adds that owner Bruce Sherman is likely to tout the club’s non-payroll spending, on things such as technology and infrastructure, though that’s unlikely to satisfy a union focused on player compensation. Perhaps the situation will be worth monitoring between now and the fall of 2026.

Elsewhere, the club also attracted some more negative attention from players for a different reason. As noted in a piece from Andy McCullough and Sam Blum of The Athletic, the Fish recently ran an ad on LinkedIn offering players $150 a day to be part of a practice squad, which would play against Low-A players.

The posting garnered the attention of MLB officials and players as it seemed to circumvent some existing rules. In April of 2023, the first ever CBA for minor leaguers was agreed to. That CBA established minimum salaries for minor leaguers but also gave each club a tight limit of how many minor leaguers they could have. The Domestic Reserve List, which is each club’s list of minor leaguers outside of Latin America, was dropped from 180 to 165.

The practice squad plan seemingly had the chance to skirt both the player limit and the minimum salary rules, which is why it raised flags around baseball. The Marlins pulled the ad and scuttled the plan, claiming that the ad was run before it had received proper internal vetting.

Turning to the major league roster, right-hander Edward Cabrera will start the season on the injured list, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The righty has been battling a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand. That may seem like a minor issue but it’s a persistent one for Cabrera, since he’s had blister problems on that finger dating back all the way to 2021.

Without Cabrera, the Marlins project to have a front four of Alcántara, Ryan Weathers, Max Meyer and Cal Quantrill in the rotation. Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, righty Connor Gillispie could have the inside track on taking Cabrera’s spot.

Gillispie, 27, made his major league debut with Cleveland last year. He tossed eight innings over three relief appearances, allowing 2.25 earned runs per nine. He also posted a 4.05 ERA over 113 1/3 Triple-A innings, working in a swing role there. His 10.1% walk rate at that level was a bit high but he also struck out 25% of opponents. After the season, he was non-tendered and signed a major league deal with Atlanta. He was put on waivers when that club signed Jurickson Profar, getting claimed by Miami.

In camp so far, he has thrown eight scoreless. That will seemingly get him a shot to open the season in the rotation. He still has options and can be sent back down when Cabrera gets healthy. The Marlins will also have Eury Pérez coming back around the All-Star break, though a midseason trade of Alcántara could also open up some starts. Other optionable starters on the roster include Adam Mazur and Valente Bellozo.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Marlins Claim Seth Martinez

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The Marlins have claimed right-hander Seth Martinez off the Seattle waiver wire, as announced by the Mariners.  It wasn’t known that Martinez had been designated for assignment, and Martinez only joined the Mariners on another waiver claim from Miami less than two weeks ago. The Marlins went on to announce that left-hander Andrew Nardi was placed on the 60-day injured list with low back inflammation to make room for Martinez’s return to the 40-man roster.

Martinez, 30, was drafted by the Athletics in the 17th round of the 2016 draft but has spent his entire MLB career in an Astros uniform. The right-hander made his big league debut in 2021 for an ill-fated cup of coffee where he surrendered five runs across three innings of work, but provided solid middle relief work for the Astros since then. Martinez’s 2022 season was particularly impressive, as he dominated to the tune of a 2.09 ERA across 38 2/3 innings of work with a 24.5% strikeout rate against a 9.0% walk rate. That production wasn’t entirely supported by more advanced metrics, but his 3.32 FIP and 3.56 SIERA still suggested even his underlying performance was that of a quality relief arm.

Unfortunately, Martinez has not been able to maintain that level of success in the years since. The right-hander’s 2023 campaign was something of a disaster, as he struggled to a 5.23 ERA with a 4.42 FIP in 43 innings of work. While his ERA was inflated by a below-average strand rate and a more than 100-point jump in BABIP, his walk and home run rates both crept upwards as well to make the struggles more than simple bad luck. While the luck-based factors in Martinez’s 2023 season reversed in 2024, allowing him to post a solid 3.59 ERA in 52 2/3 frames for Houston last year, his skills took a major step backward as his strikeout rate plummeted to just 16.2% while he surrendered the most home runs of his career.

Those struggles led the Astros to designate Martinez for assignment back in November, and he’s been riding the waiver wire ever since. The right-hander was first claimed by the Diamondbacks and spent most of the offseason with Arizona, but was DFA’d once again to make room for veteran hurler Kendall Graveman on the Snakes’ 40-man. He was picked up by Miami shortly thereafter and since then has been shipped to Seattle, and now will land back in Miami as a potential bullpen arm for a Marlins club with plenty of interesting rotation arms but very little certainty in their relief corps.

Things are even more unsettled in the Miami bullpen due to Nardi’s placement on the shelf. The southpaw entered camp behind schedule but the club provided little information about his situation, instead only noting that he had “some stuff flare up in the offseason.” Evidently, Nardi’s back issues are serious enough that the club does not anticipate him being ready to pitch before the end of May, an unfortunate development regarding one of the club’s better relief arms. The lefty posted an ugly 5.07 ERA in 2024, but underlying metrics suggested his performance was much stronger than that. He struck out a whopping 33.3% of opponents faced, walked just 8.6%, and kept hard contact to a minimum en route to a 2.76 xERA, a 2.77 SIERA, and a 3.33 FIP.

All of those figures were much more in line with the production Nardi posted in 2023, when he pitched to a 2.67 ERA in 57 1/3 innings of work. Given his excellent peripherals last year and previous success, Nardi seemed to be a likely candidate for a late-inning role with the Marlins this year. This injury will put that on hold for at least the season’s first couple of months, and perhaps longer depending on Nardi’s timetable for a return to action.

Jesus Sanchez To Miss At Least Four Weeks Due To Oblique Strain

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Marlins outfielder Jesus Sanchez suffered a left oblique strain during Thursday’s Grapefruit League game against the Astros, as Miami manager Clayton McCullough told reporters (including MLB.com’s Chuck King).  The injury will put Sanchez on the injured list to begin the season, and he’ll miss at least the next four weeks recovering.

That timeline is a little fluid, as McCullough said tests revealed Sanchez has somewhere between a Grade 1 and Grade 2 strain.  “That’s one of those areas and things that are kind of tricky to nail down.  Category one, you’re looking at [a return], probably optimistically…like a month from now,” McCullough said.

Given the perpetual overhaul that is the Marlins roster, Sanchez is the team’s longest-tenured position player, having played 446 games with the Fish since making his big league debut in 2020.  A top-100 prospect during his time in the minors, Sanchez has shown some flashes of that potential in the Show, but is still looking to find consistency.  His career 99 wRC+ (from a .240/.308/.428 slash line and 59 home runs) reflects how Sanchez has ultimately been pretty average, and his career slash just about matched his numbers during a 100 wRC+ season in 2024.

Sanchez had settled into a regular role as Miami’s right fielder over the last two years, and was projected to again get the bulk of the work in right in 2025, though the Fish were considering giving him more looks in center field.  These plans will now be put on hold until Sanchez is healthy, and his absence creates a hole in the Marlins’ outfield.

Recent reports indicated that Derek Hill was pulling ahead of Dane Myers for the regular center field job, though Myers might now be utilized in right field with Sanchez out.  Griffin Conine and utilitymen Javier Sanoja and Eric Wagaman provide further depth on the grass, and Albert Almora Jr. is more of a veteran outfield option in camp on a minors contract.

Since the Marlins are in clear rebuild mode, it is worth noting that this injury might also impact Sanchez’s trade value, even if there isn’t any indication that he wouldn’t be back in plenty of time before the July 31 trade deadline.  Sanchez is in his first year of arbitration eligibility and is earning a $4.5MM salary for the 2025 season, making him the second-priciest player on the Miami roster apart from Sandy Alcantara.

Marlins Notes: Hill, Cabrera, Morlando

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Derek Hill has seemingly pulled ahead of Dane Myers for the Marlins starting center field job, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Both players have put up solid numbers this spring, and Jackson suggests they’re each likely to begin the year on the active roster.

Hill, 29, is out of options and cannot be sent down without going on waivers. The former first-round pick has bounced around the waiver wire for the past couple seasons. Miami claimed the speedster last August. Hill hit .234/.259/.402 with four homers through 114 plate appearances. He showed decent pop but struck out 39 times while drawing only two walks. Hill’s plate discipline has been an issue throughout his career. He’s a .233/.276/.353 hitter with a 30% strikeout rate in 476 big league plate appearances.

Myers has better numbers in a smaller sample. The 29-year-old has a .265/.315/.407 slash through 178 trips to the plate. That’d be difficult to sustain unless he improves upon a 30.9% strikeout rate. Myers still has an option remaining, so the Marlins could send him to Triple-A. His ability to play all three outfield positions would give him a good chance to stick as a fourth outfielder even if he loses the center field camp battle.

Hill has hit .259/.375/.481 with five walks and seven strikeouts in nine games this spring. He has connected on a pair of home runs. Myers is hitting .300/.481/.300 with seven walks and strikeouts apiece over nine contests. He doesn’t have an extra-base hit yet.

The Marlins have very little certainty in their position player group. Right fielder Jesús Sánchez and shortstop Xavier Edwards are the only two players who should have lineup spots secured even if they get out to slow starts. There’s more stability in the rotation. Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Weathers, Max Meyer, Cal Quantrill and Edward Cabrera entered camp with decent holds on starting spots.

Cabrera’s status could be in question after he left Thursday’s start with a blister on his middle finger (link via Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald). Manager Clayton McCullough downplayed the concern, though this has been a recurring issue. A blister on the same finger sent Cabrera to the injured list in the final week of the 2021 season.

Even if he’s healthy enough to start the season, the 26-year-old righty’s performance could put his rotation spot in jeopardy. Cabrera has been rocked for 10 runs on seven hits (including three homers) with four walks and two hit batters in only 3 2/3 innings this spring. Valente Bellozo, who had a 3.67 ERA but uninspiring peripherals in 13 starts last season, would probably be the next man up. Bellozo hasn’t done himself many favors in camp either, allowing 10 runs on 14 hits (four homers) through 8 1/3 frames.

In other news out of camp, 2024 first-round pick PJ Morlando will not play in the Spring Breakout prospect series. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports that Morlando underwent an ulnar nerve transposition on his left (non-throwing) elbow on Wednesday. He’ll be sidelined for 8-10 weeks and will begin the season on the minor league injured list. Morlando, a lefty-hitting outfielder, was the 16th pick out of high school last summer. A back injury limited him to one game after the draft. Baseball America ranks him eighth among Miami prospects, praising his offensive upside but writing that he’ll likely end up in the corner outfield or at first base.

Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins

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The rebuild continued in South Beach, as the Marlins continued to move experienced talent for prospects.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $3.5MM
Total spending: $3.5MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Miami's offseason began with a big internal housecleaning, as the Marlins parted ways with their entire coaching staff, and several behind-the-scenes employees ranging from the team's dietician to the traveling secretary.  The headline name among all the Marlins' new hires was Clayton McCullough, chosen for his first big league managerial position after a long career as a coach and coordinator in the Dodgers' organization, and as a manager at multiple levels of the Blue Jays' farm system.

McCullough's history of working in player development and with players at both the Major and minor league levels bodes well for his stewardship of a Marlins team that continues to look towards the future.  Of all the players on the Marlins' 40-man roster, only Sandy Alcantara and new signing Cal Quantrill have more than four years of MLB service time, as president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has already significantly overhauled the roster after a little over 16 months on the job.

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Mariners Claim Seth Martinez

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Seth Martinez was claimed off waivers from the Marlins.  Righty Jackson Kowar was placed on the 60-day injured list in Seattle’s corresponding roster move.

Miami designated Martinez for assignment earlier this week, and today’s move makes it four different organizations in a little under four months’ time for the 30-year-old reliever.  After spending his first four MLB seasons with the Astros, Martinez was designated for assignment in early November and claimed by the Diamondbacks.  He then went to the Marlins on another waiver claim on February 20 before being DFA’ed again a week later, and now Martinez finds himself back in the AL West.

Martinez is out of minor league options, which somewhat explains his carousel of an offseason.  With teams prizing flexibility within their bullpens, Martinez’s status makes him something of the proverbial 26th man, while also still having enough value that several teams are interested in having him on their rosters.

Over 111 appearances and 137 1/3 innings with Houston, Martinez often worked as a multi-inning reliever, so the Mariners would deploy him in that same capacity if he ends up on the Opening Day roster.  Martinez has a career 3.93 ERA, though his strikeout rate fell rather sharply from 23.1% in 2023 to just 16.2% last season.  Between that dropoff and other uninspiring Statcast metrics, the Astros felt comfortable in exposing Martinez to DFA waivers, leading to his busy winter of changing teams.

An innings-eating reliever always carries some usefulness, even on a Mariners team with an unusually durable starting rotation.  A good Spring Training performance might help Martinez break camp with the team, or he might find himself on the waiver wire yet again before Opening Day.

Kowar underwent a Tommy John surgery almost exactly one year ago, so he was expected to miss some time at the start of the 2025 season as he finishes up his rehab.  The 60-day IL placement means that Kowar won’t make his 2025 debut until late May at the earliest.

Marlins Claim Brett de Geus, Desigate Seth Martinez For Assignment

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The Marlins announced that they have claimed right-hander Brett de Geus off waivers from the Pirates. The latter club designated him for assignment last week. In a corresponding move, the Marlins designated fellow right-hander Seth Martinez for assignment.

de Geus, 27, has never pitched for the Pirates. They acquired him from the Blue Jays in a cash deal last month. Though when they were able to sign Andrew Heaney last week, de Geus was the roster casualty.

He has bounced around the league quite a bit, pitching for the Mariners, Marlins and Jays last year. His major league work to this point hasn’t been great, as he has a 7.48 earned run average in 61 1/3 innings. His 16.6% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate are both poor marks, but he has generated ground balls on 52.5% of balls in play.

Those grounders are likely why he keeps garnering interest from so many clubs, despite the poor run prevention. He also tossed 39 Triple-A innings last year with a 5.31 ERA, getting grounders at a 56.6% clip.

The raw stuff is also intriguing. de Geus averaged 96.4 miles per hour on his sinker last year and 98 mph on his four-seamer, in addition to throwing a knuckle curve, cutter and splitter. He didn’t translate that arsenal into good results last year but clubs clearly think it’s possible, including the Marlins, as they claimed him off waivers in August. They bumped him off the roster a month later, with de Geus claimed by the Jays, but the Fish have now taken the chance to bring him back into the fold again.

He still has options and therefore won’t need to be guaranteed a roster spot. He also has just a bit more than a year of service time, meaning he can theoretically be affordably controlled for years to come if things click for him.

Martinez, 30, was himself just claimed off waivers a week ago. He is out of options and therefore has less roster flexibility than de Geus. With the quick claim and DFA, it’s possible the Marlins claimed Martinez with the plan to put him right back on waivers in short order. He has less than three years of service time and no previous career outright, so he would stick with the Marlins as non-roster depth if he can be passed through waivers unclaimed.

The righty tossed 137 1/3 innings for the Astros over the past four years with a 3.93 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate. Over that same timespan, he also threw 105 innings in the minors with a 2.66 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate. He got put on waivers at the end of last season, getting claimed by the Diamondbacks, though the Snakes put him back on waivers when they signed Kendall Graveman.

The Fish will now have one week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for Martinez, whether that’s a trade or another trip to the waiver wire. The waiver process can take as long as 48 hours, so any trade interest would have to be explored in the next five days.

Marlins Claim Seth Martinez

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The Marlins announced that they have claimed right-hander Seth Martinez off waivers from the Diamondbacks. The latter club had designated him for assignment earlier this week. To open a roster spot, the Marlins transferred right-hander Eury Pérez to the 60-day injured list. Pérez is recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected back until around the All-Star break.

It’s the second waiver claim of the offseason for the 30-year-old Martinez. The Astros put him on waivers at the start of November, just as the offseason was getting going. The Snakes claimed him and kept him for a few months, but he got nudged off their roster when they signed Kendall Graveman a few days ago.

His entire big league track record has been with the Astros thus far. That club added him to their roster late in 2021. He got a cup-of-coffee MLB debut that year, then spent the past three seasons as an up-and-down depth arm for Houston. From his initial selection to the 40-man until being put on waivers, the Astros optioned him 12 times.

In between those trips to Sugar Land, he threw 137 1/3 major league innings for the Astros, allowing 3.93 earned runs per nine. He struck out 20.7% of opponents and gave out walks 9.2% of the time, marks just a bit worse than league average.

His minor league numbers have been a bit more intriguing. He logged 105 innings on the farm over the past four years with a 2.66 ERA. His 10% walk rate in that sample was still a tad high but he paired it with a strong 31.5% strikeout rate.

However, he exhausted his final option year in 2024, meaning he could no longer be freely shuttled to Triple-A and back. That’s why he has twice been put on waivers in the past few months and why he has been claimed today.

The Astros and Diamondbacks are clubs with competitive aspirations, so keeping Martinez in a big league spot would be a bit more tricky. The Marlins should find it far easier, however. As part of their rebuild, they have aggressively sent out players with big league experience, with the bullpen being no exception. Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, Bryan Hoeing, Huascar Brazobán and JT Chargois were traded at last year’s deadline. Anthony Bender is now the only reliever on the roster with even three years of big league experience.

Before this move, Andrew Nardi was the only other guy over the two-year service mark, but Martinez now joins him in that camp. Though he’s out of options, Martinez could hang onto a spot in Miami’s bullpen if he’s pitching semi-effectively, given the lack of proven options. Most of the other guys in the relief mix are optionable. He should get a chance to post numbers more in line with his minor league track record. If he holds a spot all season, he can theoretically be retained via arbitration through 2028.

Marlins Giving Jesus Sanchez Center Field Reps In Camp

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The Marlins will get Jesús Sánchez reps in center field this spring, manager Clayton McCullough said this morning (relayed by Isaac Azout of Fish on First). The 27-year-old still projects as Miami’s right fielder on most days but could see some action in center if he shows well in camp.

“We think he’s more than athletic enough, he’s done it in the past and he’s graded out well as an outfielder. To us, there’s no downside to do this in Spring Training,” McCullough said. The first-year skipper noted that he expects Dane Myers and Derek Hill to combine for the majority of playing time up the middle, though Sánchez could seemingly also factor in there.

Sánchez started nearly half of Miami’s games in center field back in 2022. He has moved almost exclusively to the corner outfield since then. He logged 58 innings in center two seasons ago and didn’t play there at all last year. Sánchez has primarily played right field while picking up a handful of starts in left.

The defensive grades have been solid, if unexceptional. Sánchez has graded as a league average defender by Statcast’s metrics in every season of his career. Defensive Runs Saved has been slightly more bullish on his corner outfield work, typically rating him a little better than average. DRS has graded him nine runs above average in over 3100 career innings. Both metrics felt his 2022 center field work was close to neutral.

Sánchez has average speed with good arm strength. He’s better suited for right field but probably athletic enough to play center on a part-time basis. Myers and Hill are each faster and better all-around athletes. They should provide better defense up the middle, but neither has much of an MLB track record. Myers, 29 next month, has a decent .265/.315/.407 slash over 66 career games. He has struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances with a middling 5.6% walk rate. The 29-year-old Hill has hit .233/.276/.353 over parts of five MLB seasons.

Somewhat remarkably, the 27-year-old Sánchez is the most experienced hitter on Miami’s roster. He’s the only Marlins position player with over three years of service time. The former top prospect has settled in as a capable regular in right field. He has hit between 13 and 18 home runs in each of the last four seasons. He’s coming off a .252/.313/.417 showing that more or less aligns with his league average .240/.308/.428 career batting line.

The Marlins will have Sánchez in the everyday lineup somewhere in the outfield, most frequently in right. He could find himself on the move at the deadline. His $4.5MM arbitration salary makes him the second-highest paid player on the team behind Sandy Alcantara (not including the $17MM still owed to released outfielder Avisaíl García). He’s under club control for three seasons but could wind up as a non-tender candidate in a year or two as his projected salaries continue to climb. It stands to reason that the Marlins would be comfortable moving him if they find decent interest over the summer. Sánchez would be a slightly more valuable trade piece if he shows he’s an adequate center fielder, as that’d position him for a potential fourth outfield role on a contender.

Richard Bleier Announces Retirement

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Left-hander Richard Bleier announced his retirement earlier this week, as the 37-year-old Bleier wrote on his Instagram page that he is hanging up his cleats after eight Major League seasons.

“It’s been an incredible journey with plenty of highs and lows that ranged from spending six years in Double A to pitching in the playoffs with the Marlins, the team I grew up watching,” Bleier wrote.  “Looking back on my career I don’t think I would have done anything differently.  I’m incredibly proud of what I accomplished.  I tried to go into every day remembering my childhood memories of interactions with players and recalling how special those times were for me at such an impressionable age.  I hope I also positively impacted fans throughout the country and paid forward what was shown to me.”

The Miami Beach native began his pro career as a sixth-round pick for the Rangers back in the 2008 draft, though he didn’t make his MLB debut until just after his 29th birthday, breaking into the Show as a member of the Yankees in 2016.  That first season in the Bronx and his 2023 season with the Red Sox were sandwiched around longer runs with the Baltimore and Miami, in almost equal fashion — Bleier appeared in 143 games with the Orioles from 2017-20 and then 142 games with his hometown Marlins from 2020 until the end of the 2022 season.

Besides a pair of pseudo-starts working as an opener, Bleier came out of the bullpen for almost all of his 335 career games in the majors, and delivered a very solid 3.27 ERA over 330 1/3 innings.  This success was powered by outstanding control (3.9% career walk rate) and a knack for keeping the ball on the ground, as Bleier had a 60.9% grounder rate.  Among all pitchers with at least 300 innings pitched between the 2016-23 seasons, only T.J. McFarland and Framber Valdez had a better grounder rate.

Like most groundball specialists, Bleier’s success was somewhat dependent on batted-ball luck, though he finished his career with roughly average .298 BABIP.  The bigger issue was a lack of missed bats (13.6% strikeout rate) and velocity, which kept Bleier in something of a specialist role despite his good bottom-line numbers.  Bleier also did a very good job of avoiding the long ball, but that changed in his final MLB season, when he allowed five homers in 30 2/3 innings with the Red Sox en route to a 5.28 ERA in 2023.  Boston released Bleier in August of that season, and subsequent minor league deals with the Cubs and Nationals didn’t result in a return to the Show.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Bleier on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.

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